Process of making reeds



Feb. 2o, 1923.

n L KARAUS.

PROCESS 0F MAKlNG` REEDS. FILED NOV. 28,1919.'

Patented Feb, 2Q, 1923 l JOSEPH Renens, vor Etrznnnrrr, NEW JERSEY.

Pnocnss or MAKING'R'EEDS. U

Application fired November 2s, 1919. serial No. 341,082.

. TQaZZ whom t may concern;

Be it knownl that I, JOSEPH Kanarie, citizen of the United States, and resident of Elizabeth, in the county of Ilnicn and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain neiv and useful Improvement in Processes ofv Making Reeds, of which the following is a specication.l y 1 This invention relates to' reeds for musical instruments and particularly to the process` of their tmanufact-ure.

The primary objects of my inventions are to produce simple and eflicient Ways of manufacture by which betterresults may be obtained not onlyin respect to cost but also, andfnot toa small degree, as v.to precision, and this tosuch an extent that the hand tuning ofthe reedtongues is practically or.

- vide an improved and extremely simple, perfect and inexpensive Way of fastening the reed-tongues either singly or in numbers at one operation to the reed-plates.

I am aware of the 'numbers of patents relating to reeds in general which disclose` dierent Ways of manufacture and construction, and I am particularly referring to the kind showing an attachment of reed-tongues to the vreedsplates, Where portions of the reed-plate material are forced out andvvhere the 4already prepared reed tongue, having been previously provided with apertures for receiving the forced-out reed-plate eXtensions, is set upon and attached to theseexe tensions, and'I hereby disclaim same. My method is entirely different from the aforesaid kind inasmuch as I use the forced-out reed-plate material to serve not only in place of rivets, but also, and in a primary Way, for piercing the reed-tongue and punching thereout pieces corresponding exactly to the shape ofthe forced-out reed-plate extern' sions, which latter at the same time replace i from the plate.

4more thanL one single rivet.

thepunched out portions of the reedftongue, Whereafter their protruding ends are spread to form a head for reventing the tongues from voluntarily i isengaging lthemselves j i i i 6,()4 .The obviousadvantages ofy applying my improved Wayv efl fastening the reed-tongues tothe reed-plate, is that therel is no Apossible 3 Way o f the reed-tongues becoming loose or( rattling, unless .forcibly handled, and there k is nonecessityvfor securing the tonguestvith n,

In orderrto make doubly sure that `my piercing reed.- plate extension is immovable, I have given same a squareshape, although I shall not limitmyself to this exact form. The latter` may be altered in any convenient Way.. Suchv non-shifting extensions "come particularly into `use v-forattaching single-blade reedtongues.l When interconnected reedtongues are to be fastenedfto reed-plates,` roundy or cylindrical extensions mayzbe y"readilyyapplied with advantage. y v As has been" said previouslyy avery im- Y portantobjectof myinvention is Athe'method 80 of producinga ready tuned or nearly, ready tunedv set -of reed-tongues with one series of operationalyvith Athe elimination-.or ,reduce tion to a minimum of hand labor.l y -In the manufacture of reedl instrumentsa i the greatestdravvback in this industry Was and `still is thedependency upon human skill `in tuning the reeds to thefeXact pitch.` This may be Well and good- Wherethe costfdoes vnot enter as afprimary consideration, and

Where ampletime is allowed for.this-` vcry important operatiom` Hovvever,"feven suchcon'ditions prevail, 'it will hardly be pos-V y. sible to obtainsatisfactory results as to quale ity in harmony and I pitch yproduced in` a number of like instrumentsfof; thesame size, a shape' and .make and serving the same .purpose. The only Way to 'make with reason-k ablexaccuracyand with the least expendi-A ture' ofjand'dependencyupon ever-failing 100 i in a purely mechanical Way..r p

The foregoing and other objectsvvillbe more explicitly evident from" A the following description and the laccompa'n'ying;dravvlngs., 1015 forming part `ofl this jspecifcatlon. ",.The drawings illustrate 'specificforms and ,n'iech` anisms which serve expresslyand purely for explanatorypurposes A and to vvhich I. dQ'- not Propose .t0

human efforts is to produce the reedfplate er limited,l nor is my 'process 110 to be confined. Gn the contrary, there is' a possibility of usi-ng and vconstructing numbers of different devices with which identical results may be produced. However, there is absolutely no necessity for any speciic mechanism, except a set of hand tools, to accomplish what l claim to be my improved method or process.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure lrepresents three views or a reedtongue blank.

Figure 2 represents three views of a teinporarily bent reed-.tongue blank.

Figure 3 is a top view o reed-tongue blankl provided with a concave sloping recess.

Figs. l and are enlarged transverse sections of F ig; 3, illustrating that the material of the reed tongue is cut away to provide a sloping recess, Figure 4f being an enlarged cross section of Figurel 3, looking from the let at section lg-l, while Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view ot Figure 5, looking` from' the right at section 5-5.

Figure y6 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view through the recessed blank taken on line (v3-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 'i' represents an interconnected set of reed-tongues cutJ out Atrom the blank.

Figure 8 represents individua-l reedtongues cut out from the blank.

Figure 9 represents a reed-plate.

Figure 10 represents a complete reed, one half being equipped with interconnected reed tongues, the other half with individual reedtongues.

Figures 11, 12, and'l represent one of the many possible devices for bending and recessing the reed tongue blank.

Figures. 14:, 15and 16 illustrate tools for and diferent operations of fastening the reed-tongues to the reed-plates. y

In the figures, 10 designates the straight reed-tongue blank whichis made of resilient material, preferably spring brass strips. The blanked out strip is bent in the way indicatedat lilly-.Figures 2 and 11. The bent blank l1 is curved transversely and over its entire'- length, taking 4a generally com s.; shape, and preferably `iorming, when thus curved, a portionof a cylinder. At times it may be preferred however, that theiplate be curved to correspondinshape to a part of a conveyor to receive anlelyliptical, parabolical, hyperbolical, spherical ,or other curvature, as will be' explainedlater.

I The curvedblankis held in-its bent posit1on, whichiver it may be, and subjected to a straightwcutting yo r milling operation at ksilrbstantially its vcenter portion and over its entire length `leaving at both longitudinal sidesedges or ridges 12 and 11B-ofthe original thlkneee @fthe Stripbrelleht ist@ its Qrsinaat position, the' plate wil-l have a sloping concave depression or recess 14. In Figures 11 and l2, I have Leashes indicated in a semi-diagrammatical way, an appropriate fixture for obtaining the resuits.v sought. A cylindrically shaped steel Ytorni 15 is provided with an inclined tace, and a forni with its face uppermost fastened to a base 16 so that its cylindrical surface is on an incline. The strip 10, indicated in dashed and dotted lines, is then curved and snugly attached to the torni 153 by any convenient device in the manner indicatedby the arrows l, and receives the shape otl the form. er milling cutter 1f? or any other instrument begins its cutting operation upon 'the strip at its lower end 18 and travels in a horizontal 'plane and in the direction of arrow il until it reached the opposite or the higher end 19 of the plate. Thus a wedge-shapes cut is made on the dashed line 2G and the curved portion of the convex plate is cut oli on a plane. Then the plate is released and it snaps into its original straight position as has been said previously, and Jthe former-ly straight cut surface Ytoi-nis a concave, sloping recess. The gradually changing shape oi' the strip may l' readily observed at Figure 6. The elevated untouched sides 12 and 13 of the recessed strip may be made parallel, however their shape may vary, as for instance as indicated in Figure 3 in dashed and dotted lines, it is necessary to widen the recess at one end and make it narrower at the other.

The torni upon which the strip is milled may also take different shi-lilies as yis .shown in Figiue 18, where thefliar end 22 ot the 1forni is curved sharper than the near or lower end 23.

rllhe identical or even better results may be obtained'by .using a less resilient or nen- 'esilient material and stamping ory nom pre ng it iu such a way as to jtoriu the desired. shaped depression or reces-1 lei ."ng lh i sides at their 'original thickne its lis, well known thc r-.kon'iirniessing ope ion will increase the resiliency oi an article or give it resiliency where there ,was nono. lu graduating "the compression 'torce in a non-resilient strip, cant-ring one oit its ends to be more compressed and tliercibre more resilient th an the other, the results ,obtained willv suit certain conditions more taif'orably than by formconcave recesses `or depressionsbf,7 the mihing operation.

After the strip has `acquired the desired shape, it ready 'For another operation, that is tor making the reed-tongues therefrom. This may be done again i'n many different ways, .two preferred manners being illustrated in the drawings. Fioure i' shows inter-connected reed-tongues stamped out at required length from a prepared strip 2li, indicated in dashed and dotted lines.

The .rf ge 12 now .serves interconnection between the inrflividual tongues, ridger 18 being left in parts connected with the out of the thinner end of the strip 24, isv

tongues to increase their Weight and consequently lower their tones, Thus the tongue :25 possesses the longest piece 26 of ridge 13', and gives the lowest tone. possesses a shorter piece 28 of ridge 13 and vibrates quicker', giving a higher tone, and so on until thel last tongue 29, 'Which cut provided with no Weight at all and, having vbeen severed at substantially the center line of the strip, possesses a blade-like end, and gives the highest tonevof all the tongues stamped out from strip 24.

Similarly Figure S shows a number of reedtongues 25 27 upto 29 punched out from a prepared strip 24, With the exception that each tongue forms a unit of its own. These are used in instruments Where an individual reed is Vdesired, although they may be applied and attached inthe same Way and at one operation to` a similar reed'- plate as are the `interconnected reed-tongues.

In Figure 9 is shown a reed-plate 30 provided with slots 31 corresponding in site to the respective reed-tongues fitting into the slots.

i As may be seen in Figure 10 the interconnected reed-tongues are attached to? the reed-` plate by round rivets 32 While the individually attached tongues have square projections 33, for preventing them from turning while being proof-tuned or otherwise manipulated With.

The way the reed-tongues arefastened to the plates is illustrated and 16.

The reed-tongues 125 `are placed above av matrix 34 of'die 35, on top of the tongues is placed the reed-plate 30, While the upper male die 36 is in elevated position and the lcounter die 37'l is at its lowest stop. Then the male die, Which is aboutas` high as half of the thickness of the reed-plate, pressed down and causes the pressing out oi; a corresponding portion 38, of the reed-plate 30, which portion pierces and cuts out a corresponding portion 39 of the tongue 125.` rlhe plate portion 38 replaces the tongue portion 39 and protrudes after the afore-mentioned operation beyond the tongue 125.. The counter die 37 is then elevated and presses against the partially driven out plate portion 38 While the male die 36 is still in its place.

After the entire reed-plate, with the male die therein, has been lifted sufliciently to clear the matrix 34, the male die is stopped, While the counter die still travels upward and spreads the protruding end of the par-v tially driven out plate portion 38, as indicated in Figure 16. 4

As has been said previously, .the different steps of the described successive operations do not require and do not depend upon any special mechanism and may be readily accoinplished With a set of hand tools, and

"center portion, '"forming resilient tonguesfroin said compressed strip and "ati in Figures 14,15,`

these operations together Withthe produced articles are adapted purelyto the manufac-` ture of reeds for musical instru'nf'ients.v

its center portion and over its entire length, i forming tongues of various shape and `length from the recessed strip, fand fastening them to a reedplate.l

2. The process of producing reeds `which comprises compressing` the .longitudinalceiii .i

ter .portion of a reedetongue'strip to form elevated'side ridges and` inclinecbrecess Having thus described my invention, 1

therebetween, forming frointhe thus yprepared strip reed-tongues of `various shape and size corresponding to varioustones, and v.

nonturnably plate. J 3'. The process of producingreedsvhich fastening them tov a reedl comprises compressing portions of ay non# `resilient strip to form longitudinal recesses" y f l over its entire length at substantially its taching them to a reed-plate as set forth in thevprevious claims. j

4. 'The processof producing reeds yWhich comprises compressing the longitudinal cen! ter portion of a non-resilient strip, leaving its sides elevated, Vto form a sloping recess.

between said elevated sides, forming resilient `reed-tongues `from the 1 recessed strip,

and `attaching them `to, a reed-platey as Set forth in the previous claims.

5'. The process of producing reeds, vvvhichy i consists in transversely bending-a resilient flat metal `strip throughout its length, re-y cessing it longitudinally along its center' portionwhile inthe bent state, the axis of the recess soVv formed being at an acute angley to the axis for edge of the strip, then releasing the strip from its bentl forni, and

yfinally cutting the strip into reeds.

llo

6. The process. of producing reeds', which i consists in transversely bending a resilient flat metal strip throughout its lengthre-l cessing it longitudinally along its center portion While in the bent' state, the axisv of 1 the recess so formed beingfat an acute angle tothe axis or edge of .tlie strip, then releasing the strip from itsv bent form, and finally cutting a series of reeds therefrom of different sizes. Y,

7. The process ofiproducing reeds,which consists in transversely bending' a resilient flat metal strip throughoutits length, re-

cessing it longitudinally along its` centerA y portion While in the bent state, the axis of the recess so formed being atan acute angle tothe axis or edge of the strip, then re`. I

leasing the strip from its bentform, and finally cutting a series of,` reeds therefrom iso t of different sizes, ell the reeds being); snpported and spaced by e common coiniection.

8. The process of iiiroducingj reeds, which consists in transversely bending' a resilient fiat metal strip throughout its length, re

cessing it lougitiidinell),7 along its centerk portion While .in the bent state` the axis et the recess so iorined being at an ecute enrfle to the axis or edge ot the strip, then relou.cling the strip from 'ts bent torni and linelljv cutting :1 series or reeds therefrom oi dit ferent sizes, all the reeds beine' supported and spaced by e coinnion connectimn com4 prisingone edge ot the strip 9. The process of producing reeds which consists in transVersel;7 bending` a resilient liet metal strip throughout its length, recessing it longitudinarli37 along center portion while iny the bent stat@ ne axis of the recess so formed being` et en ecute angle to the axis or edge ot the strip, then releasing the strip .troni its bent torni, and finefllr cutting a series ot reeds therefron'i or dii.- erent Weights 4to vibrate corresponding to musical tones.

10. The herein describedL process ot preducing reeds which consists in i'orrning a retenes longitudinal recess in a instel strip1 the axis of the recess being` et en acute .angle to the axis or edge ot the strip, then cutting;` reeds of various sizes therefrom and ineiljT securingthe reeds to e reed plate.

1l. The herein described process of; preducing reeds which consists in 'termine' longitudinal recess in a resilient inetel strip of uniform thickness, the axis of the rec being` an ecrite angle to the exis or ed ot the strip, then cutting` reeds of various sizes therefrom and finally securing 'the reeds to reed. plete.

l2. The herein described process ci. producing reeds which consists in tori longitudinal recess in e metal. strip of uniw form thickness, the recess beingv oit less Width than the strip, end approximately centrally7 disposed therein. the anis ot the recess being' et an acute angle to the axis or edge of the stripa t ien cutting reeds of verious sizes therefrom and 'nally securing the reeds to e reed plete.

Signed :it New York city7 in the countyY el New Yorin and State of New York, November, A. D. i919.

JOSEPH KAR All. 

